FTDI FT232R USB UART

[_Bryan]

Hello,

I recently bought a dive computer (scuba) that uses the FTDI hardware to download the details of dives I have made.  I have a program from the manufacturer that works well, but saves the data in a .lvd file that I am not able to read yet.

So i figured that I would just get a port sniffer to see what is getting sent back and forth since I get a usb serial port when the adapter is plugged in.  But I have no idea what the settings for the port should be, I have just guessed some settings with no luck.

I have downloaded the LabVIEW examples from FTDI and I am able to communicate with the chip to get its serial number, PID, VID, LocID.  There are vi's where I could set the baud rate and flow control, but I need to find out what the program is setting these values to if I want to use any of the port sniffers I have..

Is there some way to sniff (or monitor) a port to find out the settings it is currently using while the program is downloading data?

Or is there another way to try and get that info?

I have sent an email to the manufacturer, but I am not holding my breath on a reply at this point.

[RavensFan]

Does the device show up as a com port in Windows device manager, or as a USB device when you plug it in?

Look at Portmon for Windows

[_Bryan]

It shows up as a com port (COM3) in the device manager.

I tried using Portmon 1st, but it did not work.  The capture menu where you select the ports to monitor is grayed out.  I am using Win 7 x64 which according to this link, microsoft does not have a 64 bit version.

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-hardware/portmon-equivalent-for-win-7-64-...

But that last post mentions that they got it working in compatibility mode.  I tried a few different settings to try to get it working, so I guess I could try some more things tonight.

[_Bryan]

I was not able to get Portmon to work, it would just say not connected and not monitor anything in win 7 x64.  I did put it on a virtual XP machine though and it seemed to work.  But it would not show any data on the com port even though the dive log program downloaded the data with no problems. 

[johnsold]

I like to look at the data lines with an oscilloscope. Measuring a few seconds of transmissions can identify baud and number of data and  stop bits. Parity checking is a bit trickier, but can also be identified.  If you can capture the first few characters and the last few characters, and you take the time to decode the waveforms to ASCII, you can often get some clues to the protocol.

Lynn

[_Bryan]

I actually received a response from the compay about the baud rate and settings.  So I threw caution to the wind and asked if they have a file converter to convert the log files that are saved.  And if they did not would they share the protocol manual with me for personal use.  You never know, they might share?

I also found a program on the web that claims to be a sniffer for USB ports that I will try tonight.   

[SnowMule]

NI's IO Trace, formerly known as NI Spy, works natively on Win7... Portmon does not.

Snoopy Pro is a tool I've used for USB sniffing, works in much the same way Portmon/NISpy/IOTrace does with serial lines.

[_Bryan]

Thanks for the info, I will have to look into those.

I also just received an email from the company saying that the new version of their software will export to a csv file.  But it would still be cool to do it myself......

[_Bryan]

Well,

  No joy with NI's IO Trace.  I click the capture button and nothing shows gets captured.

Also no joy with Snoopy Pro.  I get the message Snpys bridge is not available.  I can unpack the drivers successfully, but nothing happens when I click Install Service.  I can even locate the device and get the message that the snooper is installed.  But I imagine not having the Snpys bridge is bad.